Visual art: Ordinary photos, with a touch of the mysterious, too

Through March 24. Laura Letinsky's pictures invite you to stop and stare for a while. So plan for a few extra moments with "Still Life Photographs, 1997-2012," a retrospective of her work at the Denver Art Museum. Letinsky's images start as simple scenes of a meal interrupted, dirty dishes, a half-eaten cantaloupe, a lollipop. But they beg you to fill in the blanks. Is she documenting a moment or creating a metaphor? Letinsky offers clues but no solid facts. Her emphasis moves around within each image. We're not sure where to look first, or last. It's a fresh take on one of the oldest forms in the artistic book. West 13th Avenue between Broadway and Bannock streets. $10 for Colorado residents. 720-865-5000, denverartmuseum.org. Ray Mark Rinaldi

Missy Franklin, Jenny Simpson, Adeline Gray and three other Colorado women could be big players at the 2016 Rio OlympicsWhen people ask Missy Franklin for her thoughts about the Summer Olympics that will begin a year from Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro, she hangs a warning label on her answer.